Urban Meaning

/ˈɜːb(ə)n/
B1

Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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adjOf, pertaining to, characteristic of, or happening or located in, a city or town; of, pertaining to, or characteristic of life in such a place, especially when contrasted with the countryside.

adjLiving in a city or town.

Bicycles are tools for urban sustainability.
More and more people are moving to urban areas.
Urban life in the nineteenth century is well documented.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
She prefers the quiet countryside to the noisy ____ areas of the city.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The city is planning to create more green spaces in the ____ areas to improve the local environment today.

Borrowed from Middle French urbain (“belonging to a city, urban; courteous, refined, urbane”) (modern French urbain), or from its etymon Latin urbānus (“of or belonging to a city, urban; of manners or style: like those of city dwellers: cultivated, polished, refined, sophisticated”) + English -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Urbānus is derived from urbs (“city; walled town; Rome”) (further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gʰerdʰ- (“to encircle, enclose; a belt; an enclosure, fence”) or *werbʰ- (“to enclose”)) + -ānus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). For the euphemistic or proscribed term, it was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music.

"As towns continue to grow, replanting vegetation has become a form of urban utopia and green roofs are spreading fast. Last year 1m square metres of plant-covered roofing was built in France, as much as in the US, and 10 times more than in Germany, the pioneer in this field. In Paris 22 hectares of roof have been planted, out of a potential total of 80 hectares." — 2013 May 10, Audrey Garric, “Urban canopies let nature bloom”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 22, archived from the original on 02 Oct 2022, page 30:
"Parkour – often referred to as freerunning – entails creatively moving through an urban environment: flipping, jumping and vaulting across various obstacles." — 2022 June 16, Issy Ronald, “Meet the parkour athletes defying fear and gravity at Red Bull Art of Motion”, in CNN, archived from the original on 26 Jun 2022:
"Inſomuch, as thoſe citizens vvere reputed for cheeſe and principall, vvho vvere poſſeſſed of land and living in the countrey: and theſe made the State, called the Ruſtick Tribes, in Rome: vvheras contrarivviſe the other eſtate, reputed the meaner in degree, vvas named the Vrbane Tribes; conſiſting of Artiſanes & ſuch like as vvere not landed perſons: into vvhich, if a man vvere transferred from any of the reſt, it vvas thought a great ſhame and diſgrace, as if hee vvere reproched for idleneſſe and negligence in husbandrie." — 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XVIII.] Of Iugerum, and Actus. Of the Ancient Lawes Ordained for Cattell in Old Time. How Often and at what Times Corn and Victuals were Exceeding Cheape at Rome. What Noble and Famous Persons Addicted Themselves Wholly to Husbandrie and Tillage..”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 1st tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, pages 550–551:
"The Epithets of myce are thes; ſhort, ſmall, fearful, peaceable, ridiculous, ruſtik, or country mouſe, vrbane, or citty mouſe, […]" — 1607, Conradus Gesnerus [i.e., Conrad Gessner]; Edward Topsell, “Of the Vulgar Little Mouse”, in The Historie of Foure-footed Beastes. […], London: […] William Iaggard, →OCLC, page 504:
"All theſe Magiſtrats are but temporary, and have a time limited them; the Urbane or Citty Magiſtrats ſome of them continue in office 6. months, others 8. months, others are annuall; […]" — 1651, James Howell, “Of Officers or Magistrats in Generall”, in S.P.Q.V.: A Survay of the Signorie of Venice, […], London: […] Richard Lowndes […], →OCLC, page 16:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
She prefers the quiet countryside to the noisy ____ areas of the city.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The city is planning to create more green spaces in the ____ areas to improve the local environment today.

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